Improved elevated railway



3 UNITED STATES PATENT OEETGE l sYLvANUs WARREN AND WILLIAM M. BLUME,oENEW YORK, N Y., y

AssIGNoRs To THEMsELvEs AND A. v. BRIEsEN.

IMPRovED ELEVATED RAILWAY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 7l .432, dated November26, 1,867.

y To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SYLvANUs WARREN and WlLLIAM M. BLUME, of the city,county,

and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved ElevatedRailroad; and we do 1 hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear,

and exact descrip tion thereof, which will enable others skilled in theart to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specificav tion, in which-Figure l represents a side elevation, partly in section, of our improvedelevated railroad.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same,

. the plane of section being indicated by the line .r a', Fig. l. Fig.-3 is an inverted` plan view of the truck from which the car is sus;

l pended.

one track.

The` invention further consists in the use of a truck, which runs uponthe aforesaid rails, and from which the car is suspended by strongwrought-iron bars, the said car thus hanging down so as to be near tothe street, and convenient for the entrance and exit of passengers,

and so that it can be conveniently drawn by horses. 1

The invention also consists in the construction and arrangement of abrake by which all .i 1 the wheels ofthe truck can be stopped at onceand whenever desired.

The main object of this invention is to adapt the horserailroads to thecrowded thoroughfares of cities, so that they, or at least their rails,will beout of the way, and will not hinder the passage of wagons andcarts: The posts are out of the way, as they can be set close `to theedge of the sidewalk. They can be provided with bars or braces, by whichtheymay be anchored in the adjoining buildings, said bars answering forawning-supports.

Another great advantage of our invention is, that the track can never becovered by snow or dirt, and that it will thereby `be always clear. andopen to traffic. t.

It need not particularly be specified thatthis invention canwith equaladvantage be adapted to all other kinds of power as well as tohorsepower. A A represent columns or` posts, which are set into theground nearthe edge of the side`` They are made of `wrought-1` iron, orof any other suitable material that walk, as shown.

may be found strong enough for the purposes for which the posts areintended. These posts are at their upper ends provided each with asemicircular, triangular, or curved extension, B, Wh ich is so arrangedthat it holds at its end,`

orpnear to the same, a bracket, C, which is opposite to and on the samelevel with a bracket, .y

D, that is attached to or formed on the post itself, as is clearly shownin Fig. 2. These parts A A are setat suitable distances apart, andsupport and hold the rails E E, which are placed upon the brackets (land D, as shown.

The rails maybe laid directlyupon these brackets; but where the postsare far apart-' as, for instance, at street-crossings-it will beadvisable to interpose beds F, which are bars of sufcient strength laidupon the brackets C and D, the rails resting` upon bedsF,`

as shown. India-rubber or4 other elastic washers, aa,

may be interposed between the" rails` E mand their beds for the purposeof preventing jerks and sudden motions of the cars.

connect their under sidewith the posts, or by other strengtheningdevices, asmay be desired.

At street-crossings, and wherever the posts l. stand far apart, the same`should be connected by a plate, G, which not only braces the posts, i

but which may also serve to support additional bows, B', as is shown inFig. 1. These addi-# tional bows serve the same purpose as the bows B enthe posts-i. e., to uphold the rails. In;`

this case' the bracketD must be formed on the inner end` of the bow B',and secured lto thei plate Gr The upper ends of the posts A may be aufchored in the4 buildings whichline the side-z y walk, along which therailroad isarranged, by 1 means of bars H, which `will also serve tosupf `port awnings, roof, Sac. The, posts AA can The bars `F y may befurther supported by braces, which even be made strong enough to beprovided with bows B on both sides, so that they will be enabled tosupport a double track.

I is a truck of the smallest practical dimensions. It rests upon four ormore wheels, J J, which are mounted on axles K K, the latter havingtheir bearings in the sides of the truck in the ordinary or in anysuitable manner. This truck runs on the rails E E, as shown. From it issuspended, by means of strong metal bars L L, a car, M, which isarranged in any suitable manner, with seats, windows, doors, andplatforms, as may be desired, but Without wheels and agiles, it onlybeing a receptacle for passengers or goods. The bars L L are screwedinto the platform of the truck, or are otherwise made adjustable, sothat the distance between the car and the truck can be regulated atwill.

j The brake-shoes b b are secured to rods c c, which are pivoted tocranks d d, which project from a horizontal shaft, N, which has itsbearings in the truck I, between the axles K K, and parallel with thesame. e is an upright rod projecting from the car-platform, andconnected at its upper end by a ehain,f, with an arm, g, which projectsfrom the shaft N, so

that by turning the bar e by means of a handle or crank, with which itis provided, the chain j' will be wound upon it, and the shaft K will beturned' so that the brakes -will be pressed against the wheels J. Whenthe chain jerks or shakingv of the car when being suddenly started orstopped. The bars L are or may be so bent that the truck cannot bethrown off the rails.Y The latter object may also be attained by havinga grooved wheel on top of thetruck, which runs in or on a rail that issuspended above from the bars B and B', as is indicatedin Fig. 2.

Having thus described our invention, what `We claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, isf In combination with a railway as abovedescribed, having the rails at the extremities of the arches, and thecentral guiding-rod, the ear-truck I, the central guide-wheel, and rodsfor supporting the car, as herein shown and described.

SYLVANUS WARREN.

WM. M. BLUME. Witnesses:

WM. F. MCNAMARA, A. v. BRIEsEN.

